Friday, April 30, 2010

The most recent Gunplas I got are these two: HGUC Unicorn Gundam with 1/48 Head Display Base, and I got both the Unicorn and Destroy Modes as you can see.

There's a lot of story that can be mentioned about these two kits. When they were first announced, I didn't want to purchase them because in my mind back then, I always believe that Bandai is going to come up with maybe a bundled set of say, both the Unicorn mode and Destroy plus an extra bonus of the beam gatling included. Maybe that's going to be an event limited stuff, but with the contact list I have now, getting such stuff isn't as hard as the old days. So I withheld myself from buying these two HGUCs.

Never did I expect that the first bundled set is going to be this. ^^;

When the news came earlier this month from some Chinese forums, I just couldn't believe my eyes. ^^; When the news arose on Hong Kong and Taiwanese forums, I was pretty sure that this is going to be an international market limited release. It's eventually going to come to Malaysia and the price is going to be just like ordinary Gunplas.

And sure enough it is. ^^

The two runners of the Head Display Base.

Separate manuals for the HGUC model and the Head Display base.

And regarding the not-so limited limited 1/48 Head Display Base, I have another story to tell, but this is a rather sad one, and it has to do with this:

It's the super-duper-really-no-bluff-you-limited set from Dengeki Hobby January issue. As you can see, I have a set of it, which I bought last year through advanced booking from a local hobby store. I only bought 1 set, so I wasn't upset with the HGUC set. I actually sold the head display base from the Destroy Mode set to a friend of mine because I didn't want as many as 3 sets in my collection. One for assembly and Dengeki Hobby's limited version for collection, along with its box is just fine with me.

Anyway, the story is about a friend of mine, who spent quite a lot on getting the Dengeki Hobby limited Head Display Base when it was out last year. I believe he went for about 6 or 7. Because everyone believed that it was going to be super-duper-no-bluff-you-limited stuff, I'm sure everyone could imagine the total price. ^^;

For someone who miss all the limited Gunplas like beam gatling for MG Unicorn Gundam Ver. Ka, bazooka for MG Sinanju Ver. Ka, Astraea conversion set and XN Raiser, I could understand why my friend was so eager not to miss the supposedly limited Head Display Base in the first place. The determination of owning such limited stuff, as many as one could while it's still available can backfire on oneself. ^^;

Sly, very sly indeed, Bandai, Dengeki Hobby. ^^;

More evidences of the two companies' tight "collaboration" through this HGUC Unicorn Gundam's bundled set: ^^

Some minor changes to the pictures used on the manual as compared to the one in Dengeki Hobby January issue.

Main difference is just color/no color.

Images used on the box art are photographs from Dengeki Hobby January issue as well.

All Gunplas are developed by Bandai because of copyright issue. Dengeki Hobby have joined with the dark side given up the exclusiveness of the magazine's limited Head Display Base and allowed Bandai to release these two bundled sets. Now I await Kadokawa Publication to do the same and give up the exclusiveness of their novels' limited beam gatling for MG Unicorn Gundam Ver. Ka and bazooka for MG Sinanju Ver. Ka. Many fans who didn't get the chance to purchase the novels, or didn't want to because of the Japanese novel they can't read will benefit from that. Just wait for the day when their will "falter". XD

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Like I said in the previous posting, I never felt that just 4 hand units for the figure is too few. Unlike some other action figures, the articulation of Chunli's legs are way more superior thanks to the size, so the legs are extremely expressive in many action poses. There are already plenty of action poses possible with the combination of all the figure's design, not just the hands even though her character is a martial artist.

Also mentioned in the last review, I don't really like the display stand included for the figure. Not that they are bad or too simple, but the problem is on the grip that holds the figure. It's a solid part made of hard plastic, and with no movable clip like that found on Tamashii Nation's Soul Stage display stand series, the way to use the grip is just by sliding part of the figure into it. Hard plastic with sharp edges versus fabric - either Chunli's waist wrap when using the bigger clip, or her pantyhose for the smaller one, the winner is pretty obvious to predict, isn't it? ^^;

For the safety of the fabric, I call upon a much better display stand. ^^

Gunpla stand. ^^

Flexible grip coated with rubber skin, with soft round rubber head that won't harm the part of the figure where it's gripping onto, plus, it has a bendable stand allowing for much better poses in the air. ^^

Never expected something related to Gunpla would come in handy for something like this. ^^

Except for the huge "Gunpla" printed on the base, it seems like a very suitable display stand for 12" action figures eh? ^^

That's the best conclusion I can come up with for this action figure. ^^ The overall articulation totally beats the flaws of the arms' parting lines mentioned in Part 2. Since the beauty of her sculpture and painting is what I look for the most on the figure, which I can say, as impressive as I expected, the articulation which came in as second priority totally blew me away. ^^ This is my first 12" action figure, so you can probably imagine the amazement. ^^

If Medicom Toy is really going for it, there are many other versions of Chunli that they can release. I believe she wears different suits in different versions of the game, so the company might use the same body but with different costumes and give her a new release, which I really look forward to seeing, but with great concern for my wallet at the same time. ^^;

Even with this most classical design, the possibility is endless really. Just think about how many choice of color one can pick for Chunli in the game. ^^

The next character I'm really hoping to see being released as a 12" action figure is this one:

I believe Bayonetta would be a great challenge to 12" figure company to design and release. ^^ The hair (especially the hair), the costume, the details, the weapons, and tons of sleek action. Which company will make the first move I wonder, Medicom Toy? Hot Toys? Provided that they can get the license from Sega of course. ^^

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About Me

After obtaining his Bachelor of Business (Information Systems), Ngee Khiong pursued his post-graduate studies in Master of Multimedia from Swinburne University. Prior to joining as a full-time teaching staff, Ngee Khiong has worked on the design of several commercial web projects, as well as teaching as a part-time lecturer in Swinburne Sarawak. After ending his near eight-year teaching career, Ngee Khiong is now working as an administrative staff at Sarawak Energy Berhad.